Posture chairs



June 10, 1958 c. u. DEATON v 2,838,095

POSTURE CHAIRS Filed D60. 7, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet l Ill :5 3 46 A FIG4s.- S

2 A I I 2| FIG-2 INVENTOR.

BY CHARLES u. DEATON ATTORNEY June 10, 1958 c. u. DEATON 2,338,095

' POSTURE CHAIRS Filed Dec. '7, 1955 5 Sfieets-$heet 2 INVENTOR.

CHARLE S U. DEATH TTORNEYW Julie 10, 1958 Filed Dec. '7. 1955 C. U.DEATON POSTURE CHAIRS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG-8 JNVENTOR. ICHARLES u.DEATON ATTORNEY v Figure 3;

Figure 7 is afragmentary sectional view taken along 2,838,095POSTURE'CHAIRS Charles .U. Deaton, Denver, Colo. Application December 7,1955, Serial.N0. 551,6 53 (Claims. c1. 155-157 This invention relates ingeneral to certain new and useful improvements in chairs and, moreparticularly, to a'posture chair. 1 ,7

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a chairhaving a seat, back,yand anns which are removably and resilientlyinterconnected so as to readily and comfortably conform to theposture ofthe individual seated therein and will yield to the individualsmovements so as to support the body in various sitting positions.

It is another object of the present invention to provide achair of thetype stated which is simple and economical in construction and lendsitself readily to incorporation in attractive furniture designs ofmodern appearance. f

It is a further object of the present inventionto providea chair of thetype stated in which the arm rests will maintain a desirable angularposition in relation to the seat and back through all the variouspositions into which the chair can be shifted. I I V With the above andother objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features ofform, construction; ar-

presently described Figures 4, 5, and 6, are fragmentary sectional viewstaken along lines 4-4, 55, and 66, respectively, of

line 77 of Figure 4; v

Figure 8 is a side elevational view of a modified form of posture chairconstructedin accordance withand embodying the present invention;

Figure 9 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 99 of Figure 8;and

Figure 10 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 1010 ofFigure 9. 1 i V p Referring now in more detail and by referencecharacters to the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention, A designates a posture chair of the so-calledswivel or fex'ecutive type and comprises a conventional four-branched orcross-shaped base frame 1 supported upon the floor by means of casters 2and centrally provided with a conventional vertically adjustablechair-screw 3 andadjustment collar 4 which is mounted upon aconventional swivel" bearing 5. Inasmuch as the base and swivelingstructure of the chair A do not form a part of the present invention,they Q are not shown or describedin more particular detail' herein. j l

Rigidly mounted upon' the upper end of the chairbight 7 and verticallyupstanding spaced parallel flanges all) each ot er, in

2,838,095 Patented June 1 0, 1958 screw 3 is a U-shaped swivel bracket 6having a horizontal 8, 9. Spot welded on the outwardly presented lateralfaces of the flanges 8, 9, are V-shaped seat irons 10 hav-,

ing angularly outwardly branching arms 11, 12, for rigid attachment tothe under side of an upholstered seat S, the under structure of whichconsists essentially of two spaced parallel. side frame members 13connected to gether by transversely extending front and rear framemembers 14, '15,'respe ctively. Rockably mounted between the flanges8,9, upon a' pintle pin16 is a rearwardly extending arm 17 which isstamped or otherwise suitably formed to include a horizontal bight18vand spaced vertical flanges 1 9, 2 0, which project rearwardlyf beyondthe bight' 18 and are turned inwardly" toward",

the "provision 'of attachment plates 21, 22,

respectively. 1 7 =1 Welded, to and extending, transversely between, theflanges 19,720, is a cross-plate 23 having a centrally located aperture24 for receiving the hooked end 25 of a tensioning screw 26 which'extends more or less horizontally forwardly and projects slidablythrough an aperture formed 'c'entrallyin a cros's-bar'28, which is, inturn, pivotally mounted at its opposite endsinjthe, flanges 8, 9. At itsforward end, the tensionir'ig screw 26 is threaded for. receiving alarge handQnut Z9 'whieh is integrally provided with a rearwardlypresented shoulder v30.a'buttingly engaged against the forward end of aheavy com} pression springSl whichis encirclingly disposed around theforwardly projecting end of'the tensioning screw 25, and at its rear endabuts'against the forwardly presented facejof the cross-bar 28, all asbest seen in Figures 6 therefrom is .a relatively narrow back post 33which is provided at its upper end with a relatively large upholsteredchair back 34, the latter" being" conventionally/ff panel 35 formed)built upon and around a rigid back of plywood, or othersuitable'material. l

The rearwardly presented face of the seat back is; provided centrallyof, and adjacent toits lower margin, with a shallow, somewhatrectangular recess 36 for receiving a leaf-type hinge 37 which is alsosecured to and rockably supports a U-shaped arni-forming element 38,integrally consisting of a bight-like element 39 arcuately v merging atits opposite ends into two forwardly project-( ing parallel arm rests40. Recessed into the under faces] of the'arm rests 40 approXimatelyone-third of the way to the rear of the forward ends thereof aredownwardly opening metallic socket elements 41, providedwithtransversely extending pins 42 havingrspac'ed' bearing collars 43 forjournal-forming engagement ir'i'aprertures 44 which'j extendtransversely through the flattenediupper ends 45 of upright rods 46, thelower ends of vwhichare bent around arather short radius to forminwardly projecting horizontal stub' shafts 47. These stub shafts 47extend through apertures 48 formed in the side frames 13 and aresupported in bronze bearing bushings'49. Thestub shafts 47 are alsoaxially aligned with each other and project into a tubular cross-shaftwhich extends horizontally between the bushings 49 and is fastened tothe stub shafts 47 by means of pins 51. It will be noted in thisconnec-V tion that'the end faces of the tubular shaft 50 abut againstthe bronze bushings 49 so as to hold the stub shafts 47;

against axial translation.

inuse, the hand-nut 29 can be adjusted to 'applyany i desired amount oftension upon the compression spring I 31 which will thereupon hold thearm 17and the assoc'iated back supporting post, together with the chairback 34, in upwardly and forwardly shifted so calledf upright positiontoappiy'a-desired amount 'of support Rigidlylajttached, by any suitablemeans, to the attach-l, ment plates 21,fj22, and extending verticallyupwardly" g 3 ing pressure against the back of the individual who isseated in the' chair. more relaxed or reclined position, the chair back34 will be pushed .backwardly and the. arm 17 will swing downwardlyaround 'thepintle 16 against the counter-balancingforce of the spring31- to the position .shown' in dotted lines in Figure 3. It will benoted th'at'the seat S will retain its initial position and the armrests will. assume a comfortably spaced almost parallel relation theretoduring the'entire'range of movement of the seat back 34-, thuscontributing materially to the posture comfort of the chair. V V t Itisalso possible to provide a modified form of posture chair A, asishown inFigures 8, 9 and 10, which is substantially similar to the previouslydescribed posture chair A andincludes a' conventional four-branched orcross-shaped base frame 1 supported upon the floor by means of casters 2and centrally provided with a conventionalvertically adjustablechair-screw 3' and adjustment collar 4, which is mounted upon aconventional swivel bearing 5'.

Rigidly mounted upon the upper end offthe' chairscrew 3' is a U-shapedswivel bracket 6 having a U- shaped bight 7" and spaced parallel flanges8', 9.

Rigidly mounted upon the under face of an upholstered seat S" are seatirons SZhaving downwardly extending vertical flangesi53 which arepivotally mounted upon a pintle pin54 which extends through, and issupported by, the flanges 8, 9'. 'At' their rearward ends, the seatirons 52 are providedwith a'hinge 55 which is rigidly secured to thelower end of an upwardly extending back supporting post 56, the latterbeing provided at its upper end with a chair back 29', substantiallysimilar in all respects to the previously described chair back 29, and

tion of its length which extends between the flanges 8',

As the individual leans back to a 9', are depending bracket plates 59which are transversely spaced from each other and are provided at theirlower ends with apertures 60 for swiveling engagement with axialprojections 61 of a cross-bar 62, which is substantially similar to thepreviously described cross-bar 28, and is provided-"with aIcentral.aperture 63 for slidably accommodating. a tension rod 64'which extendstherethroughand-at its rear. end is threadedly engaged in a swivelnut 65which'is also rockably mounted between the flanges'tl, 9'. At'itsforward end, the tension rod is rigidly provided with. a large knob 66and washer 67 which bear against the forward end of a'compression spring68 disposed encirclingly around the tension rod 64 and abutting at itsrear end against the forwardly presented face of the cross-bar 62. I t eAs will be seen from Figure 8, the brackets 59 are shaped somewhat inthe form of a bell crank and are 7 provided at their upper endsforwardly of the bight-eleof the seat irons 52.

In use, the knob 66' is turned to adjust the tensioning screw 64andcompression spring 68 to any desired degree in the usual manner andthe chair A will normally assume the upright position shown in fulllines in Figure 8.- When an individual is seated in the chair A, thechair back. 29' will thus be held comfortably and supportingly againstthe individuals back and will swing backwardly'to the position shown indotted lines in Figure 8 or any intermediate position as the individualleans rearwardly. It will be noted that as the chair back 29 swingsrearwardly, the seat S will tilt upwardly at its forward margin and dropdownwardly at its rearward margin, and, similarly, the arms 40' willswing upwardly and rearwardly into a comfortably disposed relativeposition with respect to the seat Si and the chair back 29'.

it should be understood that changes and modifications in the form,construction; arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the.posture chair may be made and subtitutedfor'tl'iose herein shownand'described without departing from the nature-and principle of myinvention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A posture chair comprising upright support means, seatsupportingfbrack'et' means mounted on the upper end of'the supportmeans, a seat mounted on said bracket means to form, in combinationtherewith, a seating assembly, an arm pivotally mounted on the bracketand extending rearwardly therefrom a back member mounted On the said armand extending upwardly at the rear of the seat, spring means operativelyassociated with the bracket means for biasing the back member forwardlyinto an upright position in relation to the seat member, a

Ushaped arm rest hingedly mounted on the rear of the back member andhaving a pair of forwardly extending arms, and means hingedly connectedto the underside of the arms forwardly of the' back member, saidlast-men tinned means also including horizontally extending bight meansjournaled in the seating assembly for causing the arm rest means tochange its position in relation to both the seat and back member as theback member swings rearwardly against the bias of the spring means.

2. A posture chair'comprising upright support means,

seat supporting bracket meansmounted on the upper end.

of the upright support means, a seat mounted on said bracket means toform, in combination therewith, a ing assembly, an arm pivotally mountedon the bracket and extending rearwardly therefrom a back member mountedon the said arm andextending upwardly at the rear of the seat, springmeans operatively associated with a the bracket means for biasing theback member forwardly into an upright position in relation to the seatmember, a U-shaped arm rest having a pair of arm-forming membersextending forwardly on either side of the back member in upwardly spacedrelation to the seat and being connected by a transversely extendingbight which is, in turn, hingedly mounted on the rear of the backmember, and U-shaped means having upwardly extending legs which arerespectively hingedly connected at their upper ends to each arm-formingmember forwardly of the back member, said U-shaped means also havingsubstantially horizontal bight means journaled in the seating assemblyfor causing the arm rest means to change its position in relation toboth the seat and back member as the back member swings rearwardlyagainst the bias of the spring means.

3; A posture chaircomprising pedestal means having a verticallyadjustable upright post, a seat supporting bracket mounted on the upperend of the post, a seat mounted on said-bracket, a back member hingedlymounted on the rear end of the bracket separately of the seat member soas to swing rearwardly and downwardly independently of the seat member,said back member extending upwardly from the bracket rearwardly of theseat, spring means operatively associated with the bracket for biasingthe back member forwardly into an upright position in relation to theseat member, a U-shaped arm rest. means having a substantiallyhorizontal bight member extending transversely across and being hingedlymounted on the back member, said arm rest means having a pair offorwardly extending arms each provided with downwardly presentedrecesses located forwardly of said back member, and rod-like membershingedly connected at their upper ends in said recesses and havingopposed horizontally extending stub-shaft portions journaled in the seatfor causing the arms to change position in relation to both the seat andback member as the back member swings rearwardly against the bias of thespring means.

4. A posture chair comprising pedestal means, seat supporting bracketmeans mounted on the upper end of the pedestal means, a seat rigidlymounted on said bracket means, an arm rockably mounted on said bracketand extending rearwardly thereof, a back member secured to said armseparately of the seat member so as to swing rearwardly and downwardlyindependently of the seat member, said back member extending upwardlyfrom the rear of the seat, a tensioning screw shiftably mounted on saidbracket and being provided with means for engaging said arm, springmeans operatively associated with the tensioning screw for biasing theback member forwardly into an upright position in relation to the seatmember, a U-shaped arm rest means having a substantially horizontalbight member extending transversely across and being hingedly mounted onthe back member and having forwardly presented arms, and means hingedlyconnected to the arms forwardly of the back member and also hingedlymounted upon the seat for causing the arm rest means to change itsposition in relation to both the seat and back member as the back memberswings rearwardly against the bias of the spring means.

5. A posture chair comprising pedestal means having a verticallyadjustable upright post, a seat supporting bracket mounted on the upperend of the post, a seat mounted on said bracket, an arm rockably mountedon said bracket and extending rearwardly thereof, a back member rigidlysecured to said arm for rearward and downward swinging movementindependently of the seat member extending upwardly from the rear ofsaid seat, a cross plate secured to said arm and being provided with anaperture, a tensioning screw shiftably mounted on said bracket and beingprovided with a hook-like portion projecting through said aperture,spring means encircling said tensioning screw for biasing the backmember forwardly into an upright position in relation to the seatmember, a U-shaped armrest means having a substan tially horizontalbight member extending transversely across and being hingedly mounted onthe rear of the back member, said arm rest means including a pair offorwardly extending arm-forming members each provided with downwardlypresented recesses located forwardly of said back member, and rod-likemembers hingedly connected at their upper ends in said recesses andhaving opposed horizontally extending stub-shaft portions journaled inthe seat for causing the arms to change position in relation to both theseat and back member as the back member swings rearwardly against thebias of the spring means.

6. A posture chair comprising pedestal means having a verticallyadjustable upright post, a seat supporting bracket mounted on the upperend of the post, a seat mounted on said bracket, an arm rockably mountedon said bracket and extending rearwardly thereof, a back member rigidlysecured to said arm for rearward and downward swinging movementindependently of the seat member extending upwardly from the rear ofsaid seat, a cross plate secured to said arm and being provided with anaperture, a tensioning screw shiftably mounted on said bracket and beingprovided with a hook-like portion projecting through said aperture,spring means encircling said tensioning screw for biasing the backmember forwardly into an upright position in relation to the seatmember, a U-shaped arm rest means having a substantially horizontalbight member extending transversely across and being hingedly mounted onthe rear of the back member, said arm rest means including a pair offorwardly extending arm-forming members each provided with downwardlypresented recesses located forwardly of said back member, rod-likemembers hingedly pinned at their upper ends within said recesses andhaving spaced aligned horizontally extending stub-shaft portionsjournaled in said seat, and a hollow cross shaft joining said stub-shaftportions and being rigidly connected thereto, whereby said rod-likemembers cause the arms to change position in relation to both the seatand back member as the back member swings rearwardly against the bias ofthe spring means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS229,701 Hartley July 6, 1880 235,184 Wakefield Dec. 7, 1880 2,329,327Boerner Sept. 14, 1943 2,447,601 Sengpiel Aug. 24. 1948 2,547,455Freeman Apr. 3, 1951 2,587,176 Larson Feb. 26, 1952

